BET NETWORKS AND COLORCREATIVE ANNOUNCE THE WINNER OF ITS NATIONWIDE CONTEST TO FIND AN EMERGING AND DIVERSE WRITER WITH AN ORIGINAL COMEDY OR DRAMA PILOT SCRIPT

12/17/18

SKYY BLAIR FROM MEMPHIS, TN NABS OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE BET, AND

ISSA RAE’S COLORCREATIVE PRODUCE HER ORIGINAL SCRIPT AS A NETWORK PILOT

New YORK, NY– December 17, 2018. BET Networks and ColorCreative announce Skyy Blair from Memphis, TNas the winner of its nationwide competition.The contest gave one emerging and diverse writer with an original comedy or drama pilot script the potential opportunity to have their script produced for the small screen. The contest received over 1,500 submissions and culminated at the 2018 American Black Film Festival (ABFF) in Miami, FL in June, where three finalists attended round-table sessions with industry veterans and enjoyed a private luncheon with executives from both BET and ColorCreative. Blair’s original script, “CURVES,” rose to the top of the heap and was selected the winning script. “CURVES” follows three Rubenesque, African American women struggling to navigate the world at large and a particularly prickly dating scene as plus size women in Memphis, TN. BET purchased the “CURVES” pilot, and Blair will have the opportunity for her script to be produced by ColorCreative for BET.

“BET is a huge advocate for inclusion and diversity of untapped creatives, in front and behind the camera, that creates opportunities to tell compelling original stories.” Said Connie Orlando, Head of Programming, BET Networks. “Issa Rae, Deniese Davis and the rest of the ColorCreative team have been incredible partners in this search. I am excited to welcome Skyy Blair’s unique perspective of the Black experience to the BET family.”

"Partnering with BET to find a compelling and unique story by an emerging writer has always been on our checklist. As soon as we read Skyy's submission we knew that she would be one of our finalists. Her willingness to be vulnerable and open in her writing and share a narrative we rarely see on the small screen is exactly the kind of story ColorCreative wants to get behind. We are so excited to go into the next phase of development with her as well as our other two finalists." Said Deniese Davis, COO of ColorCreative.

BET Networks and ColorCreative found the scripts of the runner-ups Darnell Brown and Baindu Saidu & Courtney Perdue to be exceptional. Additionally, the Network will also enlist Saidu & Perdue into a development deal.

About the Winner Skyy Blair:

Skyy Blair is a 36-year-old author, screenwriter, and playwright from Memphis, TN. Her first novel, Choices, was released in 2006 and quickly gained popularity both within the lesbian and urban fiction communities. The highly anticipated sequel, Consequences, was released in 2009 with high praise, and rocketed to the Top 10 lesbian best-sellers lists on Amazon.com, and in independent bookstores across the country. To date, Blair has published four novels in the Choices series, which also include Crossroads,Full Circle and Southern Comfort. She has been featured in three anthologies, Les Tales: Tempted to Touch and Carl Weber’s: Full Figured Divas 8 and 10. Her most recent novel, Southern Comfort, debuted at number one in lesbian fiction on Amazon.com.

In 2018, Blair wrote, produced and directed her first short film entitled Motions. Within a week she received over 20,000 views with an impressive amount of positive likes and comments. She is currently preparing her next short film, which will focus on body-positivity. Blair’s current focus is on television writing and creating. Outside of her commitment to the LGBT community, Blair also wants to bring body-positive, strong and fierce images of plus-size women. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling and spending time with loved ones.

For more information on the contest go to BET.com.

About BET Networks

BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ:VIA)(NASDAQ:VIA.B), is the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel is in nearly 85 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, sub-Saharan Africa, France and South Korea. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business extensions including BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; BET HER (formerly CENTRIC), a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the African-American woman; BET Music Networks - BET Jams, BET Soul and BET Gospel; BET Home Entertainment; BET Live, BET’s growing festival business; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET Networks around the globe.

About ColorCreative

ColorCreative was founded to raise awareness for writers from diverse backgrounds, and to provide a springboard for their careers by producing and selling their work to digital, network and cable platforms. Since 2015, ColorCreative has partnered with Adaptive Studios, Sky Vision & Talos Films, BET, Anonymous Content, and HBO to identify new voices and fast track their scripts into development and/or production.